December/January/February General Comic Discussion (Winter Edition)

[dadaluholla]

Looks like it's time for a new quarter of general comic discussion fun. Hard to believe we breezed right through the autumn edition.

Just to kick things off, I'm curious how many monthly books you are currently purchasing? I'm sitting at 3 right now (Daredevil, Capt. America, and Walking Dead). Also buying Ambush Bug, but that is almost over.

[Dmacsg1]

My list as of right now:

Marvel

Invincible Ironman
Ironman ----- will continue to get when it turns into War Machine

Avengers/Invaders
Ironman Viva Las Vegas

DC

Green Lantern
Green Lantern Corps
JSA
Booster Gold

Final Crisis
Final Crisis Superman Beyond
Final Crisis Legion of Three Worlds
Rann Thanagar Holy War
War That Time Forgot

DarkHorse

Star Wars Legacy

IDW

Doctor Who The Forgotten

Take care all!!

[fujishig]

Only monthlies for me:

JLA: though after the horrid Vixen arc, (It's not an Elseworlds... just an alternate reality/dream, which is, you know, kinda like an Elseworlds, because it sure didn't change anything in the "real" DC universe) I'm getting ready to bail
JSA
Legion of Super Heroes
Teen Titans (I still hope they can turn this around)
Planetary (ha!)

I would collect some Marvel, but they collect literally every single book they publish, so why bother?

In addition, I pick up every new trade of:
All Star Superman
Ex Machina
Fables (finally caught up)
Green Lantern
Green Lantern corps
Invincible
Mighty Avengers HCs
New Avengers HCs
Starman Omnibus
Ultimate FF HCs (though I'm ready to bail on this too)
Ultimate X-men HCs
X-Factor HCs

[ivelostr2]

I have been losing interest unless I have a bunch of issues at a time, and If i am going to do that, i might as well just buy the trades they are cheaper. Cap is the only one I still look forward to every month...

my list:

Floppies:
Captain America
Uncanny X-men (i'm about to stop and start with the hc's)
Astonishing X-men (same here)

Hard covers Trades:
Mighty Avengers
New Avengers
X-Factor
All Star Superman
Buffy
Angel
JLA
JSA
Runaways
Action Comics

New and old Semi-Floppy trades:
Ex Machina
Star Wars Legacy
Catwoman (brubaker)


How has the GL and GL Corps been since the Sinestro Corp war, I havent picked anything up since then. Can you guys recommend it?
How about Ironman, I stopped shortly after Civil War, has it been any good since then?


Nick

[boredsilly]

I don't read that many books month to month anymore either.

Off the top of my head I read:

Hulk
JSA (so awesome!)
Johns' Superman
Buffy
Walking Dead
Superman/Batman

I'm probably forgetting 2 or 3 books.

In trades I'm catching up with Fables (which I'm not loving like i thought I would) and Green Lantern now.

[Bronkster]

Secret Invasion is over! :banana: Now Dark Reign begins. :sad: It looks like Dark Reign is more confined, but creates some new titles (permanent?). Outside of Avengers, I'm not getting any of it.

[ivelostr2]

Secret Invasion is over! :banana: Now Dark Reign begins. :sad: It looks like Dark Reign is more confined, but creates some new titles (permanent?). Outside of Avengers, I'm not getting any of it.

so, what is the verdict? Is it worth picking up as a trade? I had been reading the 2 avenger books before SI, but decided I'd wait until it was over, so I would be able to read it all at once...

[davidh777]

No floppies, and not even that many trades that I get consistently (I lost interest in some like Birds of Prey and Astonishing X-Men), except maybe Essential Avengers and FF.

[Bronkster]

so, what is the verdict? Is it worth picking up as a trade? I had been reading the 2 avenger books before SI, but decided I'd wait until it was over, so I would be able to read it all at once...
I enjoyed the whole mess - although I didn't get a number of the off-title series. I've never read a trade and have no idea how they're but together, but if they include the whole thing, then yeah, I recommend it.

I will add that I wish both Marvel and DC would stop with the "big event" things for a few years.

[fujishig]

Got my ever-diminishing pile of monthlies... though this time bolstered by a JSA event. Here's what I read over the weekend:

Legion of Super Heroes 48: Lots of exposition, and I'm still not feeling this series since Shooter came aboard and changed directions here. The explanation for the aliens is just... bizarre.

Spawn 186: I ordered two issues of this thinking McFarlane was coming back to doing the art... but he's only doing the digital inking, and neither the story nor Portacio's current artwork is enough for me to really get into this after so long away from the Spawn franchise.

Teen Titans 65: Wondergirl gets a new costume that's kinda like the old one, except now she'll have problems moving her arms up and down. Otherwise, all that buildup for this???

Countdown to Final Crisis v. 4 (conclusion): Should've listened to the advice and stopped collecting this. Lotsa crap happens, and nothing really resolves to my satisfaction. The payoff to the Karate Kid storyline is in an alternate universe (sure they tie it into an old property, which is kinda cool, but that's what it built to?) The motivations of the rogue Monitor and Darkseid are not really fleshed out. The end result of Darkseid's machinations are spoiled on the cover. A bunch of random heroes become cosmic guardians for no good reason... I still have no idea why they have the power or authority to watch the monitors. They threw away Mary Marvel not once, but twice during this series. This doesn't really tie into Death of the New Gods very well, nor Final Crisis, making me wonder what the heck the editors are doing over at DC. At the very least coordinate your "big" events!

Justice Society 20
JSA Kingdom Come Special Superman
JSA Kingdom Come Special Magog
JSA Kingdom Come Special The Kingdom:
Usually, I hate specials like this... but it was like having four issues of JSA in one month, which is only a good thing, to me.

JSA wraps up the Earth 2/Justice League Infinity storyline, so they can get back to the main Gog storyline. Decent explanation of the Power Girl paradox. It's great seeing all of these old characters back, though once again this has to confuse the heck out of new readers.

The Superman Special was the only one that really felt like filler, but it was basically Alex Ross's epilogue to Kingdom Come, and it's the first time Ross actually drew a monthly comic, so it's still worth getting. I love the quick resolution to the "fight" that opens the comic.

The Magog special reveals some much needed backstory behind Magog and his motivations, his mindset as a soldier and thus why he can justify killing.

The Kingdom Come special is pretty much an issue of JSA, with the inevitable turn finally coming.

In general, I thought the whole DC OYL gimmick was terribly executed... most of the titles that I was reading lost all momentum shifting one year into the future, and spent the next year slowly catching readers up to what happened... a tricky thing at best. I think Johns handled JSA wonderfully... he took it slow at first, reintroducing his large cast of characters, then introducing even more characters, but letting us know them instead of just throwing them into battle after battle. He took the hand he was dealt with with OYL (the non-JSA roles of Terrific and GL, etc.), referenced them, but otherwise kept control over his characters. It may bother people that Gog does not really seem to impact the rest of the DC universe titles, but it doesn't really bother me. And the artwork has been amazingly consistent... not super flashy, but a great complement to the story.

[Superboy]

Oh, how you can not resist more JSA? this book has kept me happy through all of DC's ups and downs the past 10 years.

[Hokeyboy]

Secret Invasion #8 was so awful, a bloody, still squirming, third trimester abortion of a story.

I only purchase trades now, I torrent comics (yeah I know...) and buy them collected in trades when they come out. I can live with that.

Stuff I'm buying:

MARVEL
New Avengers
Mighty Avengers
Avengers: The Initiative
Immoral Iron Fist
Captain America
Criminal
Ultimate Spider-Man

IMAGE
Fell (sighs sadly)
Casanova
Invincible
Noble Causes
Elephantmen
Walking Dead

DARK HORSE
Usagi Yojimbo
Fear Agent

DC
Superman
Action
Batman
JSA
JLA
Green Lantern
Teen Titans
Titans
Nightwing
Fables


I'll pretty much follow Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Ed Brubaker, and Robert Kirkman anywhere. Bendis reads much better in trades, but the only book he's on that's CONSISTENTLY good is "Ultimate Spider-Man". Can't stand anything Spider-Man or X-men related.

[fujishig]

How is Titans? I've been curious to pick it up, since it basically has the Titans I actually care about, but the creative team dissuaded me.

[Hokeyboy]

How is Titans? I've been curious to pick it up, since it basically has the Titans I actually care about, but the creative team dissuaded me.
A lot of people slag Judd Winick, and maybe rightfully so on occasion, but I'm an old-school Titans fan and generally like the title. It's nothing spectacular, but its solid superheroey goodness.

I also forgot to mention Punisher (MAX) and The Boys.

[boredsilly]

Oh, how you can not resist more JSA? this book has kept me happy through all of DC's ups and downs the past 10 years.

I agree. I haven't read the last volume yet (I plan to), but Johns run on JSA has been the best thing from mainstream DC since it started, and I have to imagine the last volume was really good too. So it sucks that Johns announced that he's leaving the book soon.

[Patman]

Johns will be off JSA? Doh! I guess I can drop that book when it happens.

[slop101]

I just bought this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yzer716cL._SS500_.jpg

It's one of my favorite mini-series of all time (though it hasn't held up as well as something like Watchmen). And while I have the original floppies, I never picked up a trade, until this deluxe edition. And though it's pretty nice, I wish they would've gone the "Absolute" route with it, and it could've used brand new coloring, ala Killng Joke. But still, totally worth getting - especially if you've never read it before.

[davidh777]

I just bought this:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51yzer716cL._SS500_.jpg

It's one of my favorite mini-series of all time (though it hasn't held up as well as something like Watchmen). And while I have the original floppies, I never picked up a trade, until this deluxe edition. And though it's pretty nice, I wish they would've gone the "Absolute" route with it, and it could've used brand new coloring, ala Killng Joke. But still, totally worth getting - especially if you've never read it before.

I have the original floppies but for some reason I never got the last couple. Years later, I picked up a used trade just to finish the story.

[boredsilly]

I'll give it a go, if only for the Brian Bolland art. That sumbitch can draw some comics.

[ytrez]

I haven't read Camelot 3000 since it was released but enjoyed it enough to recommend it. I also ordered the hc.

[boredsilly]

I just finished issues' 7 and 8 of Hulk and I cannot get enough of this series. I know Loeb catches a lot of shit online, but this book is pretty much Marvel's version of Superman/Batman. I loves it.

[Superboy]

I just finished issues' 7 and 8 of Hulk and I cannot get enough of this series. I know Loeb catches a lot of shit online, but this book is pretty much Marvel's version of Superman/Batman. I loves it.

I thought it was just average but then picked up pretty fast. I can't believe how much people hated it though. It wasn't THAT bad.

[slop101]

I'd highly recommend this month's ExMachina (#40) to everyone- it's a stand-alone issue/story, and it's the type of meta-story where new readers won't be lost - it's mostly funny, with a priceless final page.

[davidh777]

I have the original floppies but for some reason I never got the last couple. Years later, I picked up a used trade just to finish the story.

According to wikipedia and some amazon customer reviews, this took over two years to come out, which would explain why I lost track of it or perhaps stopped collecting in the meantime.

Rereading my trade now; thanks for raising the topic, slop101

[boredsilly]

I thought it was just average but then picked up pretty fast. I can't believe how much people hated it though. It wasn't THAT bad.

Yeah it's pretty polarizing, but it's popularity cannot be denied. I hate to say it, but I think there might be a hint of elitism going on with this title. Because it's so dumb and fun.

[davidh777]

Just finished my Camelot 3000 trade (printed in 1988), and I like this note at the end of the Bolland bio: "He is currently completing a Batman graphic novel, The Killing Joke, for DC."

[dadaluholla]

I was thinking of starting a new thread for this, but with as little activity as we have, I didn't see much of a point....anyway, are you expecting (or have you already received) any comics, tpbs, hardcovers, or other comic related goods as gifts this holiday season?

Feel free to post your hauls later this week so we can all be envious.

[ivelostr2]

My mom always has a hard time buying stuff for me, so she gave me her CC# a few times and I had things shipped to her for me...I know I have a Silver Surfer omni, Iron man Omni, Amazing Spidey Omni, and a Daredevil Omni coming to me on Christmas day...and my wife sent me to the car at my LCBS the other day, so I know I have something coming from there as well...

[Mister Peepers]

I just read the book where The Green Lantern gets his comic sidekick. I hope that doesn't last long.

I also did some research trying to find out when Johnny Thunderbolt would go away. Guess he never does :(

I can only take so much of "Did you see that!!! Johnny just said the magic words!!!! Better watch out for the next hour as he gets whatever he wishes for!!!" multiple times in the same story.

[boredsilly]

I'm not getting any comics stuff over the holidays, but with some (much needed) free time I have a stack of books on hold at the library to read during the vacation.

I have to say, Amazing Spider-man? I don't really have any strong feelings one way or the other about the Mephisto/MJ stuff, but the first Brand New Day trade was AWESOME! I've never really been a Spidey reader (I peaked in on JMS, but it didn't work for me), but this new stuff is just so fun.

[davidh777]

I was thinking of starting a new thread for this, but with as little activity as we have, I didn't see much of a point....anyway, are you expecting (or have you already received) any comics, tpbs, hardcovers, or other comic related goods as gifts this holiday season?

Feel free to post your hauls later this week so we can all be envious.

Showcase Presents Legion of Super-Heroes #2
Ducktales: Scrooge's Quest
Lego Batman PS3
And some various Tintin paraphernalia, including the moon rocket :thumbsup:

[Bronkster]

And some various Tintin paraphernalia, including the moon rocket :thumbsup:

How big is the rocket? A friend got me one a few years ago when he went to France - it's 8 1/2 inches. (why do I feel dirty all of a sudden??)

[dadaluholla]

My Christmas haul:

Invincible Ultimate Collection 3 HC
Essential Iron Man Vol 1-3
Essential Captain America Vol 4
Showcase Presents Booster Gold
Showcase Presents Batman Vol 1-2
Showcase Presents Flash Vol 1-2

I'm a sucker for those big b&w collections, so I made out pretty good in that department. I also got these 2 bizarre squishy stress ball things in the shape of Iron Man and Venom's heads.

[ytrez]

I just finished the Walking Dead HC Vol. 4 and was BLOWN away by the ending. Wow. I was thinking "man, nothing's happening in this damn book" when all of a sudden...

Well, just wow.

[davidh777]

How big is the rocket? A friend got me one a few years ago when he went to France - it's 8 1/2 inches. (why do I feel dirty all of a sudden??)

A little under seven inches tall, including the top antenna-spire thingy

[fujishig]

Well, I got the HC of Watchmen for Xmas from a friend. Great gift, even if I do already have the TPB, which is pretty worn out from reading anyway.

Since I've now caught up with all the Fables TPBs, I'm starting in on 100 Bullets... same as before, one tpb a month with my monthly order.

[Superboy]

Well, I got the HC of Watchmen for Xmas from a friend. Great gift, even if I do already have the TPB, which is pretty worn out from reading anyway.

Since I've now caught up with all the Fables TPBs, I'm starting in on 100 Bullets... same as before, one tpb a month with my monthly order.

You're in for a treat. 100 bullets has been a mainstay in my library for a long time.

The Walking Dead has been really dull lately. The last storyline ended on a major climax but the last few issues have hit a major roadblock. It feels dull, and it seems like Kirkman is distracted by other things right now.

[fujishig]

Apologies, as I can probably just google the answers, but I usually avoid comic news sites because I'm so behind in my reading due to TPBs, and there are so many spoilers out there:

Why is Ultimate X-men ending? Is it just to launch another Ultimate book, or are they doing something with the overall Ultimate universe? Or just lackluster sales numbers?

[ytrez]

The Walking Dead has been really dull lately. The last storyline ended on a major climax but the last few issues have hit a major roadblock. It feels dull, and it seems like Kirkman is distracted by other things right now.

It certainly isn't just Kirkman, most modern comics are like that these days, what with the whole "writing for tpb" trend that's going on. That's part of the reason I don't read floppies anymore.

[Bronkster]

Apologies, as I can probably just google the answers, but I usually avoid comic news sites because I'm so behind in my reading due to TPBs, and there are so many spoilers out there:

Why is Ultimate X-men ending? Is it just to launch another Ultimate book, or are they doing something with the overall Ultimate universe? Or just lackluster sales numbers?
There's an "event" mini-series going on called Ultimatum that is going to change the "Ultimate Universe" rather significantly. I try to avoid spoilers, so I don't know what titles are ending, but from the bits I've heard (drat) it does sound like Ultimate X-men is ending.

At the end of Ultimatum #2 ... (spoiler!!)
Magneto breaks Xavier's neck. :eek:

[Superboy]

Heh. Wow.

I'm glad Ultimate X-men is ending. It since Millar left it felt really dull. Vaughan was a nice writer though.

[mrglass]

I haven't collected Superman in years, but I'm really digging the "New Krypton" arc running through Action Comics, Superman, and Supergirl. My only complaint is it seems as if everything is happening too fast, but it's still a good read. I'm curious as to the identities of the new Nightwing and Flamebird. Everything has been pointing towards Conner as the new Nightwing, but I foresee a swerve coming.

[fujishig]

Catching up on some Marvel trades, and just read Mighty Avengers vol. 3 (the Secret Invasion trade). Umm... when did this book stop being about the Mighty Avengers and instead became the Secret Invasion companion/backstory book? I felt the same way about the last New Avengers trade, and apparently this continues for a few more issues. The backstory is cool, but I'd be ticked off if I were collecting this monthly, and they spent the better part of a year's worth of issues on side stories with hardly anyone from the roster being involved at all (ok, one technically deals with Sentry, and there's a tangential link to Ares, but that's about it).

At least they got rid of the thought balloons... but this might as well have been an entirely different book.

I felt a similar thing reading the latest Green Lantern trade... shouldn't this have been a separate miniseries? I realize this ties into what Johns is doing with the blackest night stuff, but I would think this would be a momentum killer right after the Sinestro War. It doesn't bother me much reading it in trades, but monthly?

[mdc3000]

I'm thinking I should maybe quit with monthlies and start to stick the the trades... I only got into comics heavy over the summer but my pull list is a bit out of control and dropping $30-$50 a week is starting to take a toll!

currently reading:

Amazing Spider-Man
Angel: After The Fall
Army of Darkness
Avengers: The Initiative
Buffy the Vampire Slayer [Season 8]
Cable
Dark Tower: Treachery
Deadpool
Ender's Game: Battle School
Ender's Shadow: Battle School
Fringe
Ghostbusters: The Other Side
Hulk [v4]
Incredible Hercules
Indiana Jones and The Tomb of The Gods
Kick-Ass
Marvel Zombies 3
New Avengers
Push
Runaways [v3]
Solomon Kane
Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane
Spider-Man Noir
The Ferryman
The Invincible Iron Man
The Stand: Captain Trips
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
The X-Files
Trinity
Venom: Dark Origin
X-Men Noir
X-Men/Spider-Man

[davidh777]

My Christmas haul:

Invincible Ultimate Collection 3 HC
Essential Iron Man Vol 1-3
Essential Captain America Vol 4
Showcase Presents Booster Gold
Showcase Presents Batman Vol 1-2
Showcase Presents Flash Vol 1-2


That'll keep you busy for a while!

[davidh777]

Two late presents:

Showcase Presents Brave and the Bold vol. 3: love the Aparo art :thumbsup:, and this was the era I subscribed and got my issues mailed to me in brown paper sleeves.

Buck Rogers in the 25th Century Dailes vol. 1, 1929-1930: I used to have a coffee-table-sized hardback of this series, and I'm glad to find that this volume starts with the same strips mine did.

[dadaluholla]

I've been meaning to pick up that Showcase Presents Brave and the Bold vol. 3, but I haven't made it through the first two volumes yet. I honestly think I could read comics 24 hours a day and still not get caught up on all these giant phonebook sized monsters I own by the end of 2009. Yet I keep buying them.

Currently reading Essential Iron Fist Vol 1, and loving it. I'm up to the Sabretooth issue (#14). Marvel seems to really be cutting back on these Essential books. Which makes me sad.

[davidh777]

I've been meaning to pick up that Showcase Presents Brave and the Bold vol. 3, but I haven't made it through the first two volumes yet. I honestly think I could read comics 24 hours a day and still not get caught up on all these giant phonebook sized monsters I own by the end of 2009. Yet I keep buying them.

Currently reading Essential Iron Fist Vol 1, and loving it. I'm up to the Sabretooth issue (#14). Marvel seems to really be cutting back on these Essential books. Which makes me sad.

I was a big Iron Fist fan back in the day so I loved that one too. I passed on the first two B&B because I really only started reading the series regularly with the Sgt. Rock issue, so I couldn't resist this one. I know what you mean about keeping up with them, but I have a plane trip coming up soon and am probably going to save this up for that--great to kill a few hours with one book.

I know what you mean. I'm planning on picking up Daredevil 5 because, again, that's about when I started reading, but I might be waiting for a while.

About the only phonebook collection that I couldn't get into was The Haunted Tank. I used to read it in floppy form, but the stories were too similar to work for that kind of extended reading.

[ytrez]

About the only phonebook collection that I couldn't get into was The Haunted Tank. I used to read it in floppy form, but the stories were too similar to work for that kind of extended reading.

Russ Heath's artwork makes Haunted Tank worthwhile to me. I love seeing his work in black and white. The stories aren't much, typical fare for the time they were released, but damn can Russ draw a tank!

[fujishig]

I know I'm two years late, but I finally picked up and read the Waid/Perez Brave and the Bold: Lords of Luck collection. Loved it... simple enough to pick up, included a bunch of characters and cameos, easy to understand, and a Supergirl that I didn't automatically hate. Also, Perez is just great for these kinds of team up books. Didn't cross over into Infinite Crisis or Countdown or 52 or anything. Why can't DC do more books like this?

[Giantrobo]

I know I'm two years late, but I finally picked up and read the Waid/Perez Brave and the Bold: Lords of Luck collection. Loved it... simple enough to pick up, included a bunch of characters and cameos, easy to understand, and a Supergirl that I didn't automatically hate. Also, Perez is just great for these kinds of team up books. Didn't cross over into Infinite Crisis or Countdown or 52 or anything. Why can't DC do more books like this?


I loved Supergirl having a teen crush on Hal, and Hal's reaction.

[davidh777]

Russ Heath's artwork makes Haunted Tank worthwhile to me. I love seeing his work in black and white. The stories aren't much, typical fare for the time they were released, but damn can Russ draw a tank!

Kubert's Rock too. Some nice talent on those war comics. Maybe I should try Unknown Soldier...

[davidh777]

I picked up December's Previews at my LCS (it's free the month after release) and a few items caught my eye:

Marvel Masterworks Fantastic Four #1 in TPB. Not a huge deal for me because I got the Barnes and Noble version a few years ago, but would be nice if some of these came out in TPB.

Guardians of the Galaxy: I have the Defenders and Marvel Two-in-One stories in Essentials but would double-dip for the color.

Batman Annuals: just looks like fun nostalgia

[Larry C.]

Guys I have a 12 year old son and we both have a love for zombies. I was never into comics but read into the walking dead and have ordered a few copies to check it out. Are there any NEW up and coming comics with buzz that would be easy to start collecting from issue #1?

[dadaluholla]

Guys I have a 12 year old son and we both have a love for zombies. I was never into comics but read into the walking dead and have ordered a few copies to check it out.

Just be sure you pick up Walking Dead #33. I'd highly recommend it for any 12 year old.

:up:

[DGibFen]

Final Crisis #6 - WTF is going on? I thought Morrison had really written a number of solid Batman storylines the last two years, but he went off the deep end when he pitched this idea. And at the end:
Batman dies from New Darkseid's Omega Beams??? Really? DC lost most of my business already, but that just takes the cake. (Yes, I realize the story has one more issue, but based on what I'm seeing in the Batman titles with cancellations and hiatuses, I'm worried about the future of the character.)

[FantasticVSDoom]

Have yet to pick up Final Crisis #6, but I know its supposed to be the true end of his Batman RIP run... I enjoyed FC #4 & 5, but I think he's just gone to far to the deep end lately.

[Bronkster]

In case anyone was wondering why the Spider-man/Obama cover sold out so fast, it's because a few thousand people are hocking them on Ebay. -ohbfrank- People are paying over 200 bucks! :doh: (there's one with a starting price of $2,500 - no bids yet!)

What was the last comic that had an insane run on the price like this? Captain America's death? I wonder how that turned out for people?

[slop101]

Not to mention, it's just a cover - there's a bunch of the regular covers still out there.

[Bronkster]

Not to mention, it's just a cover - there's a bunch of the regular covers still out there.
Oh yeah, I was gonna mention that I saw an auction for the regular cover for $24.95! :lol: I should go back and 'watch' that to see if anyone actually bids on it! rotfl

[slop101]

Really? I didn't know people were gouging the regular cover too. My local shop still has stacks upon stacks of those on hand, and will for some time to come.

Whenever a comic book gets mainstream media attention, it turns into this ridiculousness we have now.

[Bronkster]

Yup. There's auctions for the 3rd printing! WTF!

[Patman]

When I was at my LCS around 1 p.m. on Wednesday, they were continually fielding call about the Obama-Spidey issue, and my LCS sold out by 11 a.m.

I asked why they sold out so quickly, and the manager explained that this issue's order was tied to the number of Amazing Spider-Man that was ordered for June (last year, I think), and he had to match the June order quantity for ASM to get that many normal covered editions, and then was allowed to order additionally more of the Obama cover, but at the time, with the economy in the tank, the manager wasn't about to double his order (normal covers at the June levels, and then another order for the Obama covers at the same levels) and hope he wasn't going to get stuck with mostly normal covers as people snapped up the Obama covers, so he went conservative (bad pun) on the Obama covers, and ordered to fill his subscribers and then ordered what he thought would sell through for the racks.

[fujishig]

I can see it now... Obama on every cover of every comic for a month. With a lenticular cover, and polybagged with one of five trading cards.

[Bronkster]

I'm a sucker for anything lenticular :sad:

[mrglass]

Final Crisis #6 - WTF is going on? I thought Morrison had really written a number of solid Batman storylines the last two years, but he went off the deep end when he pitched this idea. And at the end:
Batman dies from New Darkseid's Omega Beams??? Really? DC lost most of my business already, but that just takes the cake. (Yes, I realize the story has one more issue, but based on what I'm seeing in the Batman titles with cancellations and hiatuses, I'm worried about the future of the character.)

Darkseid hit Bruce with his Omega Sanction beams. I had to google it, but apparently Omega Sanction beams subject the victim to a series of increasingly worse lives, hence Darkseid's final line "Can you outrun the Omega Sanction? The death that is life!"

I hope Morrisson actually does something with this concept as I think it could be kind of cool.

[Patman]

You should have seen the faces of people at another comic book store I happened to visit while in town yesterday because they had asked about the Obama-Spidey issue, and the clerk told them the first printings were $75 each, the 2nd printings were all spoken for, but they could get the 3rd printings for cover price in 2 weeks. The aghast people just backed away and couldn't believe what they had just heard.

[slop101]

Which cover?

[DGibFen]

Darkseid hit Bruce with his Omega Sanction beams. I had to google it, but apparently Omega Sanction beams subject the victim to a series of increasingly worse lives, hence Darkseid's final line "Can you outrun the Omega Sanction? The death that is life!"

I hope Morrisson actually does something with this concept as I think it could be kind of cool.

That explains the "something worse than death" line Morrison kept giving out the last couple of years.

[fujishig]

So I'm moving, and thus going through my old comic boxes and trying to organize them. Can't believe I wasted money on so much crap (including the brief run Ellis had on the x-titles). It's basically all the stuff I kept collecting after I went to college. But there are a few great reads that I'm surprised aren't collected yet:

Peter David's Supergirl run: I guess they feel the character is best forgotten

Peter David's Young Justice: ditto, since they merged the main characters into titans and killed off/forgot about the rest

Peter David's Captain Marvel: man, I sense a trend.

Legion of Superheroes/Legionnaires: I can't believe they never even collected Legion Lost. I guess all that stuff is long out of continuity, though.

Ostrander and Mandrake's Spectre. I also have some of the issues they did for Martian Manhunter.

Dezago and Ringo's Spectacular Spider-man. Ok, not the best story wise, but hey, it's Ringo.

Simonson's Orion

Also unearthed a lot of other stuff: a complete run of JSA (first on the re-read list), Titans (post Atom's team), Authority, Planetary (man I wished I had just waited for the trades on that series, as good as it is/was), the early issues of Superman/Batman, Jim Lee's run on Batman and Superman, Buseik's complete run on Avengers (that's been collected, right?), an almost complete Starman collection, etc. Makes me a little sad that JSA, Legion and Titans are the only monthlies I still collect.

[Bronkster]

Okay, so I read Mighty Avengers #21, (which really could be a #1 issue with a new name) - and I will spoilerize because that's the kinda guy I am:
Scarlet Witch?? Did I miss a mini-series somewhere? Last I saw, she was depowered with no memory of her past, living a normal life in some village somewhere. Suddenly she's back with barely more than a "gee whiz!" from the other Avengers??

X-Factor - all I will say is "eww". No, I'll also say "WTF!"

[davidh777]

I can see it now... Obama on every cover of every comic for a month. With a lenticular cover, and polybagged with one of five trading cards.

You've found the solution to the comics-industry crisis! -wink-

[Sessa17]

Scalped is the best comic being published, it makes every other comic feel jealous & insecure.

. . . . . . . that's all I've got.

[boredsilly]

I hear a lot of love thrown Scalped's way. I haven't got a chance to read it yet, but maybe my library will get on that soon. I have to be honest, I have absolutely no interest in the premise, but it's hard to ignore all of the good buzz it's getting.

I'm catching up on Fables, just read Wolves, and man. I hear people praise this comic like it's the best thing since sex, and I don't agree with that sentiment, but these are just some super solid comics. Every trade just feels like a nice steak dinner.

[Patman]

Anyone else thoroughly underwhelmed by Final Crisis #7? What a wasted opportunity by DC, and they have totally dropped the ball, mainly editorially.

On the Obama-Spidey front, the first printings could be had for $50 this past weekend at the quarterly comic book show in the ATL.

[fujishig]

Finally got my Secret Invasion trade, along with the last Mighty Avengers trade. I can't believe that they spent nearly a year's worth of issues of Mighty Avengers on Secret Invasion side stories.

edited to add:
the latest New Avengers trade is also nothing to do with the New Avengers, but just Secret Invasion tie ins. I pity the person who actually wanted to read about a team called the Avengers in the last year or so. Geez.

[Mister Peepers]

I decided to cheat in my comic reading mission and jump ahead with Marvel to when they started Spider-Man and the others. The only thing I'm reading before then to get caught up is reading the stuff that was also still being published by that time, like Journey into Mystery which is up to around #83 when the superheroes started coming out.

I already read Strange Tales and some of the others up to that point. I think I can be caught up by the end of next week.

Once I'm caught up, I plan on reading Marvel at home and DC at work. I just so tired of reading golden age DC and Marvel, especially DC. On one hand, it's cool seeing the beginnings of guys like Green Lantern, and to a lesser extent, Aquaman, but it's just one lame story after another for the most part. They either fight gangsters or axis guys for each story.

Back to Marvel, as I'm reading these horror and mystery stories to catch up, I'm not paying close attention to the cover to notice when the comic code ruined them but I've so far noticed the second issue after it's taken effect with each series.

I mean, I'm reading one issue where a guy has an ugly face and goes to a witch that summons the devil and he makes a deal with him. The devil says he'll give him a new face.

The guy wakes up and has his new, attractive face but he also has his old face on the other side of his head.

Or another story where some lady is cheating on her husband with his best friend, who is a plastic surgeon. The wife wants him to kill her husband but he doesn't want to commit murder. Instead, he kidnaps the husband and makes him look like the doctor and the doctor makes himself look like the husband.

The husband wakes up and the doctor says that by doing it this way they can easily continue their lives. If the husband tries to tell people what really happened, they'll think he's crazy and lock him up. The doctor then calls the wife over, who doesn't know what went on.

When she shows up, the husband says that she was right and wants the doctor dead. He gets shot and then the husband shoots her.

Then the comic code came.

Now we have stories like 2 guys that are trying to get property to lay some railroad tracks. The sneaky guy gets it surveyed first which upsets the other guy since he should've been the guy to do it. Whoever surveys it first gets to claim the property.

The loser takes him to court and the judge upholds the sneaky guy.

The loser rebuilt some trains and wants the sneaky guy to buy them since he has no use for them now but the sneaky guy already has trains and doesn't need more.

The twist of the story is at the end, the ghost train of the loser rides the tracks in the middle of the night.

I'd say there's a slight change in quality following the comic code taking effect.

[Bronkster]

Once I'm caught up, I plan on reading Marvel at home and DC at work. I just so tired of reading golden age DC and Marvel, especially DC. On one hand, it's cool seeing the beginnings of guys like Green Lantern, and to a lesser extent, Aquaman, but it's just one lame story after another for the most part. They either fight gangsters or axis guys for each story.

I've been reading a lot of Golden Age Superman and Action books recently. I love these for what they are, but agree that too many at one time gets frustrating due to the bland stories. But it's this exposure that causes me to toss near God-like status on Stan Lee for the complete revolution he started with the Fantastic Four and Spider-man in the early '60s. There's been a truckload written about it, but every time I go back to the old comics my appreciation for Lee increases. Again, I'm not dumping on the Golden Age - it has its place in history and those old books are still damn fun to read.

[FantasticVSDoom]

Finally got my Secret Invasion trade, along with the last Mighty Avengers trade. I can't believe that they spent nearly a year's worth of issues of Mighty Avengers on Secret Invasion side stories.

edited to add:
the latest New Avengers trade is also nothing to do with the New Avengers, but just Secret Invasion tie ins. I pity the person who actually wanted to read about a team called the Avengers in the last year or so. Geez.

Yep, and the reason Ive dropped both Mighty and New Avengers... I enjoyed Secret Invasion for the most part, and the early Avengers with the SI in it filled in the story nicely, then it got old really fast.

[Mister Peepers]

I've been reading a lot of Golden Age Superman and Action books recently. I love these for what they are, but agree that too many at one time gets frustrating due to the bland stories. But it's this exposure that causes me to toss near God-like status on Stan Lee for the complete revolution he started with the Fantastic Four and Spider-man in the early '60s. There's been a truckload written about it, but every time I go back to the old comics my appreciation for Lee increases. Again, I'm not dumping on the Golden Age - it has its place in history and those old books are still damn fun to read.

Once in a while, there'll be something that really stands out in those golden age books. The last one I remember was when they introduced the Joker. That entire book was pretty good and much better than fighting generic gangster #763.